Groovin The Moo Canberra 1/5/13 - Festival Review

On April 28, Canberra University opened itself up to thousands of keen musical fanatics (and screaming twelvies) to grace the fields for a fantastic day of entertainment. The festival bragged huge names from all around the world, plus heaps of homegrown talent. The weather gods were unbelievably kind, adding to a day of beautiful tunes and great times.

The festival organizers have to be absolutely commended for their choice of fantastic Unearthed opening acts. Walking across the University grounds to the festival’s entrance, the impressive sounds of local upcoming hip-hopper Citizen Kay could be heard hundreds of metres away. Originally born in Ghana, Kay moved to Canberra and started rapping, and his huge hit Yes is now on rotation on triple j. His impressive rhyme and flow made him a great warm-up for things to come later in the day.

Julia and the Deep Sea Sirens havejust released their second album and celebrated with a splendid performance on the triple j stage. With her harp and banjo at the ready, Julia wowed audiences with her angelic voice. The pick of the Unearthed bands was undoubtedly electronic trio Safia lead by Ben Woolner. Coming off tours supporting the likes on Major Lazer, Flume and The Presets, they showed unbelievable talent while impressing the fans as much as to have their set run overtime (much to the dismay of the sidestage organisers). You can download free songs from all three of these acts at triplejunearthed.com.

Introduced by their DJ Ninja, Tuka and Ellesquire came out bouncing with enthusiasm despite being on a ‘bender of a hangover’ and spat some amusing bars to keep the morning crowd entertained.

Brisbane four-piece Last Dinosaurs emerged into the morning sun and enchanted the crowd with songs from their superb debut album, In A Million Years. However, a catastrophic clash meant that many were lured to the Moolin Rouge tent for another Brisbane band: the wonderfulHungry Kids of Hungary. Instantly engaging, the vocal duo of guitarist Dean McGrath and keyboardist Kane Mazlin guided bouncing spectators through the best of their two fantastic albums. Classics from 2011 album Escapades highlighted the set, which featured sing-a-longs galore. Even the 60-year-old woman next to me with earplugs in seemed to be enjoying it, and many were screaming for more when their 40 minute stay was over.

Matt and Kim

Arguably the highlight for many Groovin-ers were the irresistible Brooklyn duo Matt and Kim. The couple owned the stage for the duration of their set, leaving everyone in the crowd with a beaming smile. The audience interaction was perfectly suited to their songs, which all just meshed into one ball of fun companied with hilarious background visuals and close-ups. ‘Yo Matt,’ Kim said between songs, ‘we have been in Australia for three days already and we haven’t fucked once yet.’ (Cue surprised audience laughter) ‘So tonight, you’re getting one of those condoms from the condom tent (yes, condom tent) and fucking me so hard.’ (Cue even more laughter and cheering.)

Without a doubt the most disappointing thing on the day was the atrocious organisation of the cloak room. This may sound like an overstatement, but sorry Groovin the Moo, waiting in line for 20 minutes while all you can hear is The Amity Afflictionscreaming is a waste of time. When finally arriving at the desks and asking to reclaim your bag through a detailed description, one is then required to wait a further ten minutes while your bag is located and returned to you, wet from the grass. If you want to just grab something from your bag and put it back in the cloak room, think again – you have to join the back of the line and pay again to put your bag back in. This lead to other problems, such as people in the crowd with backpacks because it was too inconvenient to queue up again. It is understandable that it is a difficult task to coordinate the bags for thousands of people and it may become busy, but a better method is undoubtedly necessary in the future.

Seth Sentry and his hoverboard

All this messing around at the cloak room meant that I was unfortunate enough to miss the fantastic Mr Seth Sentry. His groovy set included a cameo from Festival Song star Pez, leading to an entertaining rap battle. After his breakthrough album This Was Tomorrow and well-earned spots on US Talk Shows, his live show can get a huge tick of approval with thousands of fans shouting ‘Hoverboard, where the fuck is it!’

Alpine

Alpine

Alpine have had a huge year with the launch of their impressive debut, A is For Alpine. Lead singer Phoebe Baker’s great costume made the Melbourne six-piece visually appealing, but many agreed that their chilled-out tunes were not suited for the festival crowd. However, they still managing to get the crowd dancing during their hits Gasoline and Hands.

The evening saw some nineties redemption with performances from Aussie post-grunge experimentalists Regurgitator and Brooklyn science rockers They Might Be Giants. They certainly both satisfied the older audiences while still being youth-friendly. Regurgitatorshowed that they still have it in them after 20 years with a well-varied set of classics and rock jams. As the sun went down, They Might Be Giants graced the stage and sent everyone back to school. For an educating hour they gave the crowd lots to think about with fast paced songs about science, maths and geography. Crammed in at the V Stage next door waiting for Tame Impala, I couldn’t help thinking what in the world they were talking about (as did many neighbouring people) but it sure was entertaining.

After seeing Tame Impala at a packed-out Enmore Theatre last December, I had to say I had high expectations for their performance. After hearing about frontman Kevin Parker’s supposedly lacklustre showing at Maitland the night before due to a cold, he must have taken some super-powered decongestant because he was almost sounding back to his fantastic best. Coming off two top-ten results in triple j’s Hottest 100, the audience were treated to the very best from their two stellar albums. It was disappointing to see many spectators leave the crowd after a short instrumental, which, in my opinion, added to the spectacle and built upon their-already stunning songs. Not many bands can build suspense and keep a song interesting during an instrumental, and this is what the Perth psychedelics do best. Even though there was a lack of audience interaction, there was still so much to see and hear, whether it be Kevin working pedals and knobs with his feet or keyboardist Jay Watson’s bobbing hair. Kev was still struggling to hit the high notes in Feels Like We Only Go Backwards, but I don’t think anyone noticed because they were too busy singing along. Although not quite long enough to fit in all of their hits, Tame Impala’s show left no one dissatisfied.

Flume

From the early hours of the morning, there was one name on everybody’s lips: Flume. It was a toss-up between pop twins Tegan and Sara and the wunderkind Sydney producer, and for most people, the latter won. The sweaty Moolin Rouge tent was packed full of 10,000 keen fans all dying to see the 21-year-old genius work his magic. He did not disappoint – his original songs were phenomenal and he busted out some sweet remixes of Major Lazer’s huge Get Free and even squeezed in some Notorious B.I.G at the end. The crowd went absolutely bananas for Holdin On; ‘Got my hips shakin’, Mama I love you’ competed with Tame Impala for biggest sing-a-long of the night, and then his huge finale: the monstrous remix of Hermitude’s HyperParadise, had everyone jumping. Everyone expected big things of Flume, and he didn’t disappoint.

When your legs got too tired to jump around in the mosh anymore, there was plenty to do around the showgrounds, and the highlight for many was the Artist Signing tent, supported by safe sex company Red Aware. Diehard fans could sacrifice time spent seeing artists and instead meet them; Flume, Tegan and Sara, Matt and Kim and Tame Impala all brandished their sharpies for some intense signing time, leaving hundreds starstruck as their idols were only centimetres away.

Backed up by a monstrous lineup, Groovin the Moo 2013 was a remarkable event. Music for all tastes and age groups ensured that everyone was left satisfied, and entry and exit was so easy that it made the trek to Canberra worthwhile. Bring on Groovin 2014!!!

Review by Ruben Seaton and Photos by Jack James

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